Obamacare success might depend on where you live

7:59 PM,
Dec. 15, 2013

Written by

Joe Mathews

If you try to understand Obamacare, you're guaranteed to get a nation-sized headache. (I tried, and I did.) Federal and state government officials have a mess on their hands, and nearly every statement you can make about it comes with 17 qualifications. But here's some health advice for Americans: Take two aspirin and stop trying to understand Obamacare on a national level.

The secret is that the Affordable Care Act's new marketplaces aren't really federal or state entities. They're regional.

If you've heard about your state's "insurance exchange" in the news media, it doesn't refer to one ...